


Bears Picnic

by DoomNightAt12



Series: A Witch, A Ghost, and more. [3]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Blood and Injury, Felix and Locus are mean as usual, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23902834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomNightAt12/pseuds/DoomNightAt12
Summary: Grif thinks he'll get to spend a night of freedom out in the woods, but instead he meets a nerd in a tree, and then gets attacked. Not what he'd planned at all.
Relationships: Dexter Grif & Dick Simmons
Series: A Witch, A Ghost, and more. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695187
Kudos: 14





	Bears Picnic

**Author's Note:**

> _If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise. If you go down in the woods today, you'd better go in disguise! For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain. Because today's the day the Bears have their freedom._

Small towns out in the middle of nowhere were great for disappearing to. Generally the neighbours weren’t nosey about a pair of siblings moving into a unit without parents, the traffic had predictable times when it got anything close to busy, and there was plenty of uninhabited land like the dense forest to the west. Prefect for disappearing.

“Kai, don’t go too far and for god sake check your watch! We set time limits for a reason!”

Dexter Grif grumbled as he watched his sister flip him off before disappearing into the undergrowth, shoes and jacket left behind. He grabbed the abandoned clothing and put it in a pile, before adding his own shoes and hoodie. The ground was soft with decomposing leaves, so he took a moment to enjoy the feeling, thinking about how nice it would be to just curl up and hibernate. Except it wasn’t winter, and there was a level of warmth still in the air that had reached even this far into the growth.

He followed the path Kaikaina had created at a slower pace, content to just enjoy the peace and quiet. Even in the dark of the night and the thick forest, he had not trouble making his way around bushes and tree roots, and eventually he spotted a clear straight cut through the trees.

Grif put himself into a sprinter start, which would have been a strange sight for anyone who knew his opinions on physical activity, but tonight was special. Tonight was their night for freedom, and he’d been saving up his reserves.

Energy bristled in his chest, spreading out and down his limbs. He was skilled enough now to have got the transformation down to just a minute, body warping into new proportions, hair growing out, nails and teeth elongating. At sixty seconds on the dot he ran. The sight would have been startling for anyone who didn’t know their wildlife well, seeing a brown bear hurtling through the forest at ten feet a second. After 50 metres and few slight turns he slowed to a stop, grunting at the exertion. He stretched, reaching up to claw at a near by tree, before turning to scratch his back against it.

“Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.”

“ _What?!_ ”

Grif froze, having not expected to hear someone’s voice out here. His nose picked the trail first, the scent of a human male only a few feet away, up a rather twisted tree. They locked eyes.

The offending spy looked terrified, brown eyes wide and red hair filled with leaves and twigs. But after a moment, something else sparkled in their eyes, and they dared to lean forward.

“You…just spoke, didn’t you?”

“Uh, no.”

He put a paw to his mouth in a very un-bear like fashion, and the glint on the boy’s eyes grew brighter. Realising he’d walked right into that, Grif let out a string of curses.

“You’re a real, actual talking bear! That or I’m having the kind of dream you get from falling asleep in the woods-” He pinched himself, “Nope! Talking bear is real.”

“I’ll show you real. Come down here and get acquainted with my claws.”

The boy yelped, and then lost his balance in the tree, tumbling backwards with flailing limbs. Meer seconds after he hit the ground, his bag fell too, landing square on his chest with a hefty thump. Grif stared at him.

“Smooth.”

“Oh shut up.”

Keeping one wary eye on the massive bear, the red head stood and brushed himself off, before checking the contense of his bag. As he rifled around, a packet of oreos fell out.

“Dibs!”

Grif dived for the packet, earning another startled noise. Without apposable thumbs, he could only press a paw down and tear into it with his teeth.

“…You know, I could have just opened it for you.”

Half the biscuits and most of the packet were already gone, the rest dangling from his mouth or on the floor. The sight earnt him a sigh and a shake of the head from the boy. A clawed finger pointed accusingly back.

“Then speak up sooner. I mean, who the hell do you think you are just, lurking in the woods?”

He seemed to pause for a moment, before putting out a hand, oddly not as wary of the bear as he probably should be.

“Richard Simmons.”

With a snort, Grif slapped a paw against his hand.

“So I can call you Dick?”

“No. You can call me Simmons or I punch you, your choice.”

“Fair.”

With a lot less effort that the first turn, the paw began to shift back into a hand, gripping and shaking with renewed dexterity.

“Names Grif. Nice to meet you, Dic-”

He was cut off with a swift punch to his now human shoulder, but it was only light. Simmons was wide-eyed again as he watched his new acquaintance shift form, clearly fascinated.

“So, do you often come to sprint around as a bear, or is it just on certain moon phases?”

“Do _you_ often come to just hangout in a tree in the middle of the night?”

He looked away, still avoiding the question. Grif just shrugged.

“Hey, whatever man. You keep your secrets, but I expect you to keep mine, alright?”

Simmons nodded, then paused to think.

“…Does that mean I can ask you more questions?”

“Depends. Do you have more food?”

Strange enough, Grif found himself playing twenty questions with the guy over a packet of chips. Simmons, as he could have easily guessed, was a massive nerd. He asked about the how’s and why’s of a man turning into a bear, to which he replied half-heartedly with things like ‘Who knows’ and ‘probably, probably not’. The red head wasn’t deterred and filled in the silence with more talk, his own theories on the supernatural, his apparent algorithms for finding magic, the parts of all of this he was adding to his dungeons and dragons campaign. Grif simply relaxed, zoning out and nodding every so often when their eyes met.

Once the chips were finished, the bear shifter’s attention was caught by the bright orange, stretchy band on his wrist, the only accessory he had that could survive his transformation and still tell him the time. It was late.

“Fuck, Kai’s gonna give me so much shit.” He turned to his new acquaintance, “Hey man, I gotta go.”

Simmons stood and brushed himself down, packing the rubbish into his bag.

“Yeah, I should get going to. We can walk out together,”

“…You’re just lost and want a guide, aren’t you?”

“Shut up.”

He got a light shove, so Grif laughed and returned it. He hadn’t expected to spend his freedom night eating junk with some nerd, but he could totally think of worse things. They both walked back the way Grif had originally sprinted in from, following his tracks while keeping a nose out for Kaikaina. However with about 20 metres left in their journey, something else caught his nose.

At the sudden new smell, he twisted to get a lock on its location. Before he could find the source however, Simmons let out a pained shout. Grif’s attention faltered, eyes falling to the red-haired boy at his side. There was now a smear of blood on his shirt, but he couldn’t exactly see where he’d been injured. A laugh rang out from above.

“The forest is a dangerous place pal. You better run before he bleeds anymore.”

Grif growled at the strange new man, but grew wary at the sight of a knife in his hand. He had slicked back hair, shaved at the sides, with wickedly orange eyes that were much too bright to be natural.

“Or leave him! My partner will enjoy the snack!”

Before he could turn, a massive blur of fur charged in from the darkness, slamming into Grif’s chest. His already changed eyes could make out the twisted X scar on the head of what looked to be a bi-pedal wolf. A werewolf. Just what he wanted to deal with. He planted his feet to avoid sliding back and focused his energy on shifting again, knowing he’d really have to dig from reserves to stand a chance.

There were claws digging into his shoulder before he could even grow his fur out, and his scream came out as a roar in response. He pushed himself forward, slamming his head into the werewolf’s neck. Even as he shifted, it was clear Grif was still going to be the smaller party in the fight, and he couldn’t put himself out of reach as he stepped back, claws pulling all the way down his arm. He spared a lance towards to frozen boy.

“ _RUN!_ ”

Simmons hesitated, face pale at the sight of dripping blood. When he finally mustered the will to step back, he bumped into something warm, before feeling a chill against his neck.

“Nope, missed your chance to run.”

The man from the tree pressed the knife a little harder, and Simmons tried not to make a noise as he felt a drip run down neck. He was forced to watch Grif fight, and the bear shifter was not doing well. His left arm was in shreds, blood dying his fur red, and the werewolf had sunk its fangs into his neck. Some damaged had been returned, but his shorter stature and less dexterous paws weren’t hitting as precise. It was an uneven match up, and Simmons stomach dropped at the thought-

_Grif was going to die._

“You’ve got a lot going on in here,” The orange eyed man put his free hand to Simmons head, “So much just, swirling around. I think you should just pick one.”

His panic subsided suddenly, as well as most of his other feelings, only to be quickly replaced with cold dread that froze his limbs and twisted his face as he watched the werewolf dig his claws into Grif’s face. There was so much blood, and looking harder it seemed there was a paw on the ground and not attached to an arm-

“BACK THE FUCK OFF!”

A new bear came flying through the trees, jumping onto the werewolf’s back and bitting into the base of his ears, causing him to release his grip on Grif. The hand and knife pulled away from Simmons, but he stayed frozen as the new bear twisted and growled, lashing out as the man ran past his partner. The werewolf seemed to get the meaning, shoving off the attacker and following the man off into the darkness.

“AND STAY AWAY BITCHES.”

On the second shout, it clicked to Simmons that the new bear was a girl. She stood still to catch her breath but jolted back when she heard Grif groan. She studied his prone from, as did Simmons, and they must have reached the same thought.

He didn’t look good.

At some point he’d transformed back, leaving a bloodied and broken human form on the forest floor. When Simmons moved to get closer, the remaining bear turned and growled in clear threat.

“Wait! Wait, it’s- It’s Kai, isn’t it?”

She didn’t move, but she didn’t back down either.

“L-look, I met Grif earlier, he ate my snacks and was helping me out of the forest. He said you were gonna give him shit for being late.”

She stood on her back legs, but her fur began to recede, until there was a young, terrified looking girl with blood smeared around her mouth standing there.

“…He’s gonna die, isn’t he?”

She collapsed at Grif’s side, tears brimming in her eyes. Simmons watched as she gently shook his body, and as Grif’s breathing got shallower.

“No. Not on my watch.”

He marched up to Grif’s left side, where most of the damaged had been done. His panic hadn’t returned, so he knew he had to ride this moment of clarity for as long as he could. He pulled off his jumper and pressed it against the open wounds on his arm.

“Help me lift him. If you can lead me out of the woods, I know someone who might be able to help.”

“Seriously?”

Kai looked at him in disbelief, but quickly looped the right arm around her neck, hoisting him into a sitting position. Simmons tied his jumper around him as best he could, before tucking himself against Girf’s shoulder to lift him up. It wasn’t a perfect lift, but thankfully Kai was managing with Grif’s weight, leaving Simmons to just make sure they din’t topple to the side.

Their pace was agonizingly slow, and once they were out of the woods there was a level of worry of being seen, but the town was dead at this hour and their goal wasn’t too far away. After a few paddocks, a tall chain link fence came into view, holding in towers of scrap metal that made up the junk yard. The followed the fence, until it hit a building so red it even stood out at night.

“Wait here.”

Simmons left the two bar shifters in the shadows, before barging up to the door and banging as loud as he could.

“HELLO? SARGE? LOPEZ? PLEASE WE NEED HELP! SARGE!”

There was the clear noise of a shotgun being loaded, and Simmons stopped banging, holding still as the door opened to a rather disgruntled man ready to fire.

“What is sam blazes is all the racket?!”

“Sarge, help!”

The shotgun dropped as he took in the sight of blood.

“Christ, what happened to ya private?”

“It’s not mine, or- well, most of it isn’t mine.”

Simmons jogged back to Kai, helping her lift Grif and pull him into the garage. Lopez had woken at some point and bothered to turn the lights on, illuminating just how much blood was everywhere. They manoeuvred Grif onto a work bench, before Sarge came for a closer look.

“There was something in the woods, it attacked him, can you save him?!”

The older man pulled away the blood-soaked jumper and studied the wounds carefully, a twisted gleam coming over his eyes.

“There ain’t much to save of this arm, but it just so happens I’ve been wanting to test out some of my prototype prosthetics!”

Simmons smiled, but Kai didn’t sound as excited.

“Like metal bits? You can’t do that!”

“And why not lil missy? Don’t ya wanna see him better?”

Kai looked stricken, but she turned to Simmons.

“You can’t use fake stuff, it stops our abilities to change.”

He frowned at her.

“Is being able to shift that important to you both?”

The look on Kai’s face said it all, and Simmons looked back over Grif. Sarge just shrugged.

“I’m gonna need something to patch ‘im up, else that blood is just gonna keep coming.”

Kai turned back, pressing the bloodied jumper back against the wounds.

“My brother is all I have left… but our ability is all we have left of our parents…”

Simmons thought, still a little surprised that his panic hadn’t returned, and came to a scenario that he probably never would have reached in any other state of mind.

“Then let’s use me.”

Sarge quirked a brow, and Kai looked equally confused.

“Use my body to patch him up, give me the metal parts.”

Sarge barked out a laugh, “So you do have guts kid! Good to see! Lopez, fetch my tools, we’re going into surgery asap!”

Kai looked at Simmons like he was both some kind of angle, and that he’d grown an extra head.

“You’d do that? For my dumb big brother?”

“I- I mean, it’s win-win right? Cyborgs are pretty cool.”

Sarge shoved a bottle of alcohol into the red heads hands.

“Drink this, then lay down. Lil missy, think you can help with holding?”

Kai nodded, following Sarge’s orders on what to grab as Simmons spared another glance at Grif. He was, by some miracle, still breathing, and looked almost too small laid out on the table.

“You’re gonna owe me big time.”

He sculled the alcohol, and laid down on one of the other work benches, wondering how man regrets he’d have in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> And there you have it, how Grif and Simmons met pre-'Being a witch'.
> 
> You also get a peek at Felix and Locus in this verse, now what could they be up to? 
> 
> If you enjoyed then please leave a kudos and/or a comment! I'd love to know what else people would like to see in this AU, any characters they want expansion on?


End file.
